Sign



E. P. VINCENY.

SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.20, 19H- RENEWED APR.27,1922.

Patanted June 27, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

TIE-La- Elli)- fi LT; i

TIEL5 [\{TO'R I A TTORNE E. P. VINCENT.

SIGN.

'APPLICATlON FILED APR.20. I917- RENEWED APR- 27. 1922.

PatentedJune 27, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 TIE].

[NV NTO ATTORNE)? PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST P. VINCENT, OF NEW YORK, N.

SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2'7, 1922.

Application filed April 20, 1917, Serial No.'163,368. Renewed April 27, 1922. Serial No. 557,034.

Be it known that I, llnxssr P. VINCENT, a citizen of the l nited States, residing at the borough of Manhattan, in the county 2 of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improv ments in Signs, of which the following is a specification. reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to improvements in signs, and has particular reference to adver tising signs and especially those which are illumihated. The invention has for one of its principal objects the production of a sign which can be read at a distance without having to stand directly in frontof the same. ()ne of the principal objections to the present forms of illuminated signs is the fact that unless standing almost opposite the sign. it cannot be read from a distant point. In other words, a sign in front of a building when illuminated is diflicult to read on coming down the street until almost opposite thereto owing to the confusion of light rays and dazzling efl'ect of the lights. According to my preferred method of construction the characters such as the letters of a sign are preferably provided with extending members or ribs following the outlines of the characters and by which they may be discerned at a'considerable distance without having to stand in front of the sign, and this applies to the illuminated and nonilluminating type of signs.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated in Fig. 1, a non-illuminated type of sign showing the letter H according to one application of my invention. .Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the backboard of the character cut out to conform to the out-.

lines of the character. Fig. 3 is a similar illustration showing an application of the invention to an'illuminated character. Fig. 4 illustrates another modification, Fig. 5 a framed backboard form of character, Fig. 6 another illuminated form showing the outline ofthe' letter in members of modified construction. Fig. 7 illustrates various modifications of such members. Fig. 8 is a view, showing the relative .position of the lights and the member by which the character is outlined. Figs. 9 and 10 are views similar to Fig. 8 illustrating modifications,

Fig. 11 a front elevation of a'suitable form of bolt for retaining the outlining members, Fig. 12 a modified form of the same.

Instead of painting the character upon a flat surface or depressingthe same therein or outlining it in other suitable manner, the same is preferably outlined by strips of material such as 13, which may be secured between the forked ends 14 of bolts such as indicated in Fig. 11 or in any other suitable manner. By constructing the character in this manner the color of the members 13 being of course contrastingly diiferent from the color of the base 14, the. charactercan be read at greater distance Without the necessity of standing opposite to the same. l or accentuating the character, the base 14 may of course be cut to conform therewith as indicated in Lt in Figs. 2 and 3 or may be formed in boxlike manner as indicated at 15 in Fig. 5.

For illumination purposes, the lights such as incandescent lamps may be secured beneath the outlining members as indicated by the reference character 16 in Fig. 3. By this arrangement the character is illuminated on all sides and stands out beyond the lights so as tobe seen from almost any angle and at the greatest distance.

By referring now more particularly to Figs. 6 and 7. it will be observed that .various forms of out-lining members may be employed. The form illustrated at 17 is preferably a straight flat member similar to t indicated by the reference character 13. 18 indicates the inverted V type. 19 shogws the same in curved arrangement. 20' presents a flat surface,'21 a round rod or tubular arrangement, 22 a concave surface, and 23 an angular convex-like surface. These members of course may be connected to the baseboard or body portion of the sign either by continuous strips-of material such as 24 ,or by bolts such as illustrated in Figs. 11

and 12. In using the form of bolt or holder shown in Fig. 12, it may be secured upright asshown .in Fig. 9 for holding an outlining member such as shown in Fig. 6, or it may be used in its inverted position to hold a rounded member such as 21 shown in Fig. 8. When the forked form of holder or bolt shown in Fig. 11 is employed, the outlining member 13 is preferably retained above the light. 16 as shown in Figs. 3 and 10. .In other forms of outlining members such as shown in Figs. 8 and 9..the lights 16 may 'be opposed at the sides as shown, but in any event theliglits are preferably closer to the baseboard or body portion of the sign than the projecting margin of the outlining members as shown, thus preserving the outline of the characters and giving prominence thereto so as to avoid the loss of the same in the light rays. In other words, it is of importance that the outlining member project beyond the lights so as to receive the light rays upon the surface thereof and outline the same sharply upon the face or body portion of the sign, which being in contrasting color clearly pronounces or defines the character such for instance as a White letter upon a black face or body of a sign, or a black letter upon a White face or body portion of a sign.

In the use of such form of outliner asillustrated at 19, 22 and 23, or in fact in anyof the forms, it may be desirable to use outliners of transparent material such as glass or other suitable composition.

Of course it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

I claim.

1. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially fiat material substantially at right angles tosaid base.

2. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially flat material substantially at right angles to said base and lights'refiecting on said projecting character.

3. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially fiat material substantially at right angles to said base, and in combination therewith a duplication of said character forming or in combination with said base and presenting a face at right angles to the fiat surface of said first mentioned character, the outline of said first mentioned character being central with respect to said base character.

4. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially fiat material substantially at right angles to said base, and in combination therewith a duplication of said character forming or in combination with said base and presenting a face at right angles to the fiat surface of said first mentioned character, the outline of said first mentioned character being central with respect to said base character, and lights between said first mentioned character and said base character.

5. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially fiat material substantially at right angles to said base, and in combination therewith a duplication of said character forming or in combination with said base and presenting an outstanding face to said flat surface of said first mentioned character, the outline of said first mentioned character being central with respect to said outstanding character and lights between said base and said outstanding character.

6. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially flat material substantially at right angles to said base, and in combination therewith a duplication of said character forming or in combination with said base and presenting an outstanding face to said flat surface of said first mentioned character, the outline of said first mentioned character bein central with respect to said out-- standing (iharacter.

7. A sign having a character projecting from the base thereof, said character of substantially flat material substantially at right angles to said base, and in combination therewith lights beneath the edge of said character and above said base.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence "of two witne$es ERNEST P. VINCENT.

\Vitnesses-z ANNA F. Dunn, THOMAS A. HILL. 

